HOWELL — For more than a century, there has been no shortage of talent on the Howell baseball team — from Howell native and Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Bert Tooley in the early 1900s, to Texas Rangers ninth overall draft pick David Hibner in 1977, and all the way up to Michigan’s Mr. Baseball in 2017, Sam Weatherly, and Livingston Daily’s 2017 Athlete of the Year, Caleb Balgaard.

Although Weatherly is the only one of those four that will be there, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, much of that talent from over the years will be on display Saturday at the 8th Howell Baseball Alumni Game, which begins at 12:15 p.m. at the varsity field.

“The two best things about playing in the alumni game, from my perspective, are (that) I get to play with the guys that I looked up to and admired when I was a kid, and I get to play with guys I’ve never met before, guys I only know about from reading the paper,” said Rich Robinson, a former Howell left fielder who graduated in 1979.

"I get to see what their careers were like after they came through. And it’s really great to be reconnected with the older guys and the new guys who came up after me. And for the new guys, they get to meet a lot of symbols of the tradition of Howell baseball.”

Anywhere from a few dozen to around 40 former players have shown up for past games. This year, 25 players spanning multiple generations will be on hand and fill out the respective Green and Gold rosters.

There will be older guys like Mike Keck, who graced the hot corner of the Howell diamond back in 1971 and ’72, when the Highlanders won the Capital Circuit League championship, Younger guys will compete, too, such as recent graduates Brett Chaperon and Bailey Burton, who finished their high school career in 2016 after helping Howell to a KLAA West title.

“It’s a blend of experienced guys from long ago and young guys, who are just now appreciating what alumni means to them,” said Brent Earl, a shortstop for Howell from 1983-85. “It’s fun to meet the new guys … and for them, when they leave, they appreciate it, like, ‘Wow, I was a part of a long history of other great teams and seasons before me that I didn’t really realize.”

Of course, Earl is also looking forward to something else.

“Surviving,” he said with a laugh. “Being able to walk off the field.

“I’ll have four or five Aleve in me at all hours of the day on Saturday.”

Earl joked that the majority of the guys are “too old” to get through an entire game. But that’s not to say there won’t be flashes of competitiveness. It’s a fast-pitch, nine-inning game — at least nine innings is the plan, although it could be shorter — and although it’s an exhibition, the most veteran guys want to show they can still hit.

“When you’re up at the plate facing a pitch, then it becomes real,” Earl said.

Mostly, though, it’s an all-star game that’s about celebrating the Howell baseball program’s many, many decades of success, including two regional championships (2012, 2013), 13 district championships — including six straight from 2012-17 — and 13 league championships.

“It’s all about the camaraderie,” said Tim Olszewski, former Howell third baseman and pitcher in the mid-'80s, and current varsity girls basketball coach. “Just getting out and seeing old teammates, past Howell players that started in the ('70s) all the way up to kids that played last year.”